Friday 28 June 2013 14.41 EDT
First published on Friday 28 June 2013 14.41 EDT

There is something about the NBA Draft that many people don't acknowledge, especially when it turns out that much-hyped picks flame out while other teams find diamonds in the rough, late in the second round. The truth is that these players, whether they're from college or international leagues, are not only unproven. They are also young and still developing.

It's hard enough to make the right decisions when there are potential superstars available – just ask the Portland Trail Blazers about picking Greg Oden over Kevin Durant – but it is especially difficult in a draft like the 2013 edition. The 2013 NBA Draft was held on Thursday night at Barclays Center, the first such event to be held at the new home of the Brooklyn Nets and the last to be hosted by David Stern, the retiring NBA commissioner. Despite, or perhaps because of a weaker than normal class, it was one of the more entertaining drafts of the last few years. So what did we learn?

While Bennett may have been an unconventional choice, it's not like the Cavaliers had a safe pick to make. This really wasn't the ideal year to have the first pick. The last two times Cleveland found themselves in this position were no-brainers, but there was nothing close to a LeBron James or Kyrie Irving third time around. Unlike in previous years' drafts there were no guaranteed star players, let alone a consensus No 1 pick, like Anthony Davis in last year's draft. But still … ANTHONY BENNETT?

Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless)

I didn't see enough of Anthony Bennett, but what I did see didn't scream No. 1 overall. Bizarre pick.

Probably nobody was surprised more than Nerlens Noel, who was thought to have had the best odds for being picked first, despite the fact that he is still recovering from the ACL tear surgery that ended his college career. It's quite likely that these health-related question marks scared away potential suitors, as NBA history doesn't always speak kindly of teams who settle on big men out of college who are already dealing with health problems. Noel plummeted all the way to No 6, where he was picked up by the New Orleans Pelicans – who sadly robbed us of a classic tongue-twister, "New Orleans' Nerlens Noel", by trading him to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Despite Noel's drop – he was two or three picks away from getting consolatory phone calls from Aaron Rodgers – he was still picked up one spot earlier than Kansas's Ben McLemore, maybe the most talented player in the draft, who was taken seventh by the Sacramento Kings. Indiana's Cody Zeller was the fourth overall pick, which would have been incredibly shocking if any other team than the Charlotte Bobcats had made that decision. Under owner Michael Jordan – and yes we mean that Michael Jordan – Charlotte has had a tendency to rate low-ceiling college players much higher than those inside-the-box thinkers on other teams who prefer to focus on things like "potential to get better" and "talent".

At times, the draft felt like the trade deadline

Trey Burke had good reason to think he was going to Minnesota… Photograph: Keith Bedford/Reuters

By the end of Thursday night, the draft didn't feel quite as inexplicable as it had at the start, Anthony Bennett aside. Several teams made puzzling picks that ended up being moves to set up later trades. Say what you will about the relative merits of the NBA Draft as a major televised event, but there is an undeniable, inadvertent comedy that happens when drafted athletes briefly wear the cap of a team that is, at that very moment, sending them to another team.

Take the strange evening had by the ninth overall pick, Trey Burke. It didn't seem to make much sense when the Minnesota Timbwerwolves selected Michigan's March Madness hero – after all, Minnesota was already set at the point guard position. It didn't take long for reports to circulate saying that Burke would be traded to the Utah Jazz. The trade was so under wraps that Burke himself didn't discover he was Utah-bound until he was halfway through a live ESPN Radio interview in which he was attempting, unsuccessfully, to feign enthusiasm about playing for the T-Wolves.

Similarly, Noel didn't make much sense for New Orleans, given that they already have Anthony Davis. But the Pelicans packaged Noel with draft picks to get back the 76ers all-star Jrue Holiday. With this one transaction, both franchises made clear where they were headed. Holiday and Davis give the Pelicans a solid core for a contending team to come. By trading Holiday for Noel, the 76ers are effectively ending the Andrew Bynum experiment after one disastrous year and seem likely to start a rebuilding process. (Unless trading away your best player in two consecutive offseasons, Andre Iguodala in 2012 and Holiday this year, is somehow a tenable long-term strategy in putting together a championship-caliber team.)

The biggest trade conversation of the day involved the Boston Celtics, and it had nothing to do with how they traded up to grab Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk. While the rest of the league was focused on the draft, the Celtics and the Nets were working on a huge trade that would give the Nets the Remaining Two of the Big Three (Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce) along with Jason Terry, while the Celtics would get back three first-round picks, Kris Humphries' expiring contract, Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, MarShon Brooks and Keith Bogans. With this deal apparently mostly in place, Garnett has reportedly waived his no-trade contest – but nothing can be truly official until 10 July. Assuming that this deal doesn't fall apart before it becomes official, the night of the 2013 NBA Draft will have featured more major trades than either of the last two trade deadlines. So, yeah, busy night.

International players are still on the rise

Among those moments of unintended comedy has been watching Stern struggle with the surnames of many international players. Indeed, there are times, when Stern attempts to read the more difficult ones, when it's all a little painful, like listening to Michael Palin's Pilate in Life Of Brian. Knowing how badly Stern has wanted to expand the NBA's brand into overseas markets, he's probably willing to risk a little public humiliation if it means more players from other countries breaking into the league.

The Milwaukee Bucks took the first truly international player in this year's draft when they chose Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo – and yes, that was one of the names Stern struggled with – with the 15th pick. That opened the floodgates and as the known college quantities started to come off the board, teams began to take fliers on players outside of the US. The Atlanta Hawks ended up with Spain's Lucas Nogueira with the 16th pick (courtesy of a trade with the Celtics) and Germany's Dennis Schroeder with the 176th. The Cavaliers selected Russia's Sergey Karasev with the 19th pick. In what certainly must be at least a rarity, if not a first, two Frenchmen were drafted back-to-back in the first round as the Jazz (via a trade with the Denver Nuggets) picked up Rudy Gobert with pick 27 and the San Antonio Spurs followed with Livio Jean-Charles at 28. (I don't remember, have the Spurs had any success with French players they have chosen 28th overall?) The first round ended when the Golden State Warriors, via the Phoenix Suns, took Lithuania's Nemanja Nedovic.

That's seven of the first 30 draft picks from the international leagues, and that's not counting foreign-born players who played in college. Although it feels a bit of a cheat to call Canada a foreign country in a story about the NBA, what with that team in Toronto and all, the 2013 Draft began when Bennett became the first Canadian to go No 1 (take that, Steve Nash). When the Oklahoma City Thunder took Pittsburgh's Steven Adams at 12, he became the first New Zealander to be selected in the first round. In their trade with the Jazz, the Timberwolves received the 21st pick and used it to nab Gorgui Dieng, a Senegal-born center who has become well known for his role on this year's championship Louisville Cardinals team.

In his last NBA Draft, Stern went out of his way to emphasise how much the sport's popularity has grown worldwide since he took over as commissioner. While there's plenty that Stern has done wrong since 1984, it's no coincidence that the game has become more international. And that's a good thing, even if it meant he had to stumble over a name now and again.

This won't be as much fun when Stern retires

Seriously, even if he sticks to his plan and retires next year, can't he still show up for every NBA Draft just for the ceremonial boos from the New York crowd? It's one of the greatest traditions in American sports.

Other things we've learned

• Best name? Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (8th overall, Detroit Pistons)

• Tim Hardaway Jr wasn't the only famous son drafted on Thursday. The 76ers took Glen Rice Jr, son of (well obviously) Glen Rice Sr, with the 35th pick before trading him to the Washington Wizards. The Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane, who clearly had the more imaginative father of the three, was drafted 18th; he'll be playing for the Dallas Mavericks. If you're wondering about Colton Iverson, however, the answer to your question is "no". Colton, picked by the Indiana Pacers at 63 but heading to the Celtics, is, fortunately or unfortunately, not related to Allen Iverson.